Montreal, July 7: A rescue attempt between two close friends from Punjab ended in disaster after both drowned in the Lachine Canal in Montreal, Canada, over the weekend. According to preliminary reports from Canadian emergency services, one man accidentally plunged into the water, prompting his friend to dive in immediately afterward to save him from the current. Both victims were pulled from the water after an intensive search but later passed away in the hospital, as confirmed by the Quebec Coroner’s Office on Monday.
The deceased include twenty-six-year-old Lovepreet Singh from the Barnala district of Punjab, while his companion is reported to be from Butala village near Amritsar. Stranded by the sudden loss, the families of the deceased youths have reached out to government authorities to fast-track the repatriation process so that the bodies can be brought back to Punjab for traditional last rites.
The incident drew a massive response from local authorities, with twenty to thirty emergency personnel deployed to the canal junction near the Saint Lawrence River following an emergency call late Saturday night. The Montreal Fire Department and the Canadian Coast Guard deployed three vessels and specialized sonar technology to navigate the dark waters. It took first responders nearly two hours of continuous searching to locate the victims and transport them to a nearby medical facility.
The complex recovery operation wrapped up on Sunday. Representatives from the local safety administration asserted that the double fatality has pushed the total number of drownings in Quebec to twenty-five for the current year. Officials maintained that local police and investigators are still looking into the case to determine the precise environmental factors or circumstances that caused the initial fall.
